The present invention relates to automotive visors and particularly to a mounting assembly for attaching a visor to a vehicle.
Conventionally, visors are mounted to vehicles by an elbow bracket assembly which is secured to the sheet metal framework of the vehicle roof by fastening screws. There also exists a variety of snap-in mounts including those of the type shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,357,974; 4,178,035; and in German Patentschrift No. 23 41 940. Also known are the visor mounts disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,569,552; 4,553,797; 4,529,157; and 4,634,196 which are assigned to the present assignee. U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 989,913 filed Dec. 12, 1992 and entitled VISOR MOUNT also assigned to the present assignee discloses a twist-in visor mount.
Although snap-in and other types of visor mounting systems which avoid manual attachment to the vehicle using fastening screws are preferable, other fastening systems of the prior art tend to be either excessively complex, and therefore costly, or the visors are too easily removed, thus not providing secure installation. Snap-in visor mounts utilizing plastic materials, although preferable from a cost standpoint, tend to loosen due to creeping of the plastic material, thereby providing an unacceptable visor mount for long term use.